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2009 Season
The 2009 World Rally Championship season is the 37th season of the WRC. The FIA have proposed a "round-rotation" system which allows other countries to take part. It started with the 2009 Rally Ireland on the 30th of January. The Drivers Title was won by Sebastien Loeb, his sixth on the trot. That keeps him as the most successful driver in history. Citroen won the Manufacterers Championship after Ford won it for the last 2 years. The 2009 WRC Calendar For this year there are 12 rallies, three less than 2008. This is because of the Round Rotation system which means 24 rallies in 2 years. For this season, some of the traditional classics such as the Monte Carlo, France, Sweden and New Zealand have been dropped. But they will come back for 2010. 6 Rallies return to the calendar: Ireland, Norway, Cyprus, Portugal, Poland and Australia. Teams and Drivers For 2009, 6 teams have signed up for the championship for manufacters. With the withdrawels of Subaru and Suzuki, new teams Citroen Junior Team and Adapta World Rally Team have joined. The Junior Team will run alongside the highly successful Citroen Total Team and the Adapta Team will run in Subaru Imprezas. In the main Citroen Team, the lineup remains much the same. Reigning champion Sebastian Loeb and Dani Sordo stay at numbers 1 and 2. In the BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala stay with Ford. Stobart VK ford continue their run of young drivers by introducing JWRC hotshot Urmo Aava. He will run alongside Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg for 2009. Solberg will also run a stint at the Munchi's Ford team. His team-mate for 2009 is Argentinian Federico Villagra. In the Junior Citroen Team, Subaru refugee Chris Atkinson drives alongside reigning JWRC champion Sebastien Ogier, Conrad Rautenbach and Evgeny Novikov; 3 stars of the future. The Adapta Subaru World Rally Team have appointed Mads Ostberg to team-leader. His team-mate in Rally Norway, the 2nd round of the championship is Anders Grondal, another promising Norweigan. Adapta however, won't compete for manufacterer points. Results 2009 Rally Ireland Winner: Sebastien Loeb Runner-Up: Dani Sordo 3rd Place: Mikko Hirvonen 2009 Rally Norway Winner: Sebastien Loeb Runner-Up: Mikko Hirvonen 3rd Place: Jari-Matti Latvala 2009 Cyprus Rally Winner: Sebastien Loeb Runner-Up: Mikko Hirvonen 3rd Place: Petter Solberg 2009 Rally de Portugal Winner: Sebastien Loeb Runner-Up: Mikko Hirvonen 3rd Place: Dani Sordo 2009 Rally Argentina Winner: Sebastien Loeb Runner-Up: Dani Sordo 3rd Place: Henning Solberg 2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna Winner: Jari-Matti Latvala Runner-Up: Mikko Hirvonen 3rd Place: Petter Solberg 2009 Acropolis Rally Winner: Mikko Hirvonen Runner-Up: Sebastien Ogier 3rd Place: Jari-Matti Latvala 2009 Rally of Poland Winner: Mikko Hirvonen Runner-Up: Dani Sordo 3rd Place: Henning Solberg 2009 Rally Finland Winner: Mikko Hirvonen Runner-Up: Sebastien Loeb 3rd Place: Jari-Matti Latvala 2009 Rally Australia Winner: Mikko Hirvonen Runner-Up: Sebastien Loeb 3rd Place: Dani Sordo 2009 Rally Catalunya Winner: Sebastien Loeb Runner-Up: Dani Sordo 3rd Place: Mikko Hirvonen 2009 Wales Rally GB Winner: Sebastien Loeb Runner-Up: Mikko Hirvonen 3rd Place: Dani Sordo Driver's Championship Manufacterer's Championship